Planning committee OKs proposed Slater Street tower
Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: November 10, 2015 | Last Updated: November 10, 2015 12:45 PM EST
Planning committee chairwoman Jan Harder poured cold water all over a downtown councillor’s attempt to secure a grocery store in the ground floor of a Slater Street redevelopment.
“We can’t say, ‘The only way you can build this tower is to include a grocery store,'” Harder said Tuesday, minutes after her committee unanimously approved a proposal by Broccolini Construction Inc. to construct a 27-storey tower at 383 Slater St., replacing a two-storey building occupied by Alterna Savings and Credit Union.
The proposed development, which council will vote on later this month, would include 300 rental apartments, four storeys of underground parking and street-level space for commercial tenants.
City planners endorsed the developer’s proposal, which sought permission for more height, larger commercial space and less landscaping.
The developer hasn’t determined who the potential tenants will be and is aware of the request for a grocery store.
Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney told the committee people who live in that part of Centretown are desperate for more amenities, such as a grocery or hardware store. The closest supermarket now is at the corner of Bank and Somerset streets, about one kilometre away.
Harder, who worked in the grocery business before becoming a city councillor, said she doubted the area has sufficient density to convince a major retailer to commit to such expensive real estate given the low margins grocers face.
“I don’t want you to dream too big,” she said of the request for a grocery store.
mpearson@ottawacitizen.com
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http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...r-street-tower
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